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Episode:Iron, Forged in Fire, Part One
| image = Iron,_Forged_in_Fire,_Part_One.jpg | date = November 22, 2008 (Canada) April 24, 2009 (USA) May 13, 2009 (Australia) | ep_num = 1 | writer = Christopher Yost Romain Van Liemt Craig Kyle | director = Stephane Juffe Philippe Guyenne | guest = | next = Iron, Forged in Fire, Part Two }} Howard Stark, head of Stark International, grows steadily weary of one of his executives, Obadiah Stane, who just wants to make military weaponry. While traveling with his son, Tony, their jet is engulfed in an explosion severely injuring Tony and killing Howard. In the following months Obadiah takes the company in his direction shutting Tony out completely. Tony must embrace a new life going to school. But when Pepper Potts raises suspicions regarding Obadiah Tony investigates using a powerful suit of armor. (Series Premiere) Story Like Father, Like Son is in his lab welding something together, something that's red and has a hand. He finishes and his friend , or Rhodey, walks over seeing that it is a suit of armor with a yellow face. However, Rhodey says that will just invent something better, but Tony doesn't believe so. Tony wants to show it off to his father and asks Rhodey to come along. But Rhodey has to go to school, unlike Tony. The two walk away leaving the armor alone. Tony walks up to 's greeting a man on the way in. He rides up and and gets off on his father's floor. There are people happily walking around everywhere. He greets everyone on the way to his father's office. He knows everyone's name including , his father's secretary. She tells him that his father's inside and lets him in. His father, Howard Stark, is looking at several images, one of which is a ring with symbols on it. When Tony enters he stops the image of the ring. He talks to someone on the phone telling him to begin the trial run, and that he'll bring the ring with him. Howard hangs up and Tony asks if the s he designed will be running. Howard presses a button opening the window cover allowing sunlight in. The office is bright and warm. He tells his son that they tested them already and are trying them out that day. Howard offers to let Tony come and see but the boy wants to show his father something big. Just then, bursts into the room despite Tricia's efforts. Obadiah wants to know why Howard rejected his proposal to turn the Earthmovers into a weapon for the military. He believes that Howards is costing the company billions by not building weapons. However, Howard notes that it is his company and he can do as he wishes. Obadiah storms out. Howard tells his son that they will test out the Earthmovers and then see what Tony wanted to show him. They leave the office. Test Site Later, flying in a Howard is explaining to his son about the . He tells of a story that says Chinese explorers came to the long before the . He believes that the Makluan Rings, which were believed to be , were actually advanced technology even by today's standards that predated the by hundreds, possibly thousands of years. He shows that he's wearing one of the supposed rings himself. However, Tony finds the whole thing boring. Just then they fly above the Earthmover test site and Howard points it out. He says that they'll be testing Tony's laser technology. The plane begins its descent. Down below the Earthmover walks into position. It is a massive robot walking on six enormous legs. Other vehicles are sitting around it. The technicians activate it's laser. Underneath the laser blasts into the ground revealing . On a nearby tower, Howard explains that the Tony's invention will revolutionize and even disaster relief with it's pinpoint laser and seismographic readings. Tony jokes that the Earthmover is better than his father's last invention and Howard feigns grounding him. A technician walks up with a suitcase and Howard puts his ring into it. Howard explains that they are analyzing the ring to compare it to the artifacts they just uncovered. He believes that studying the ring will allow them to unlock their secrets. Howard says he will now see what Tony wanted to show him and the two leave. Back in the air, Tricia informs Howard that Obadiah insists they speak. Howard lets him through. While waiting Tony bets a million dollars that it's about the Earthmovers again. Howard accepts and Tony leaves to prep before they land. Obadiah comes on and demands to talk about the Earthmover deal. Tony overhears and exclaims that he's rich. Obadiah gives Howard one last chance to approve it, but Howard refuses one more time. Elsewhere on the plane Tony punches a code into a key pad on a large box when he hears something powering up. He looks around and sees a bright light increasing right next to him. He is knocked back and the plane is soon engulfed in the energy. New Life Six months later, Tony wakes up looking at a in . He can hear his heart beat and the sound of the implanted in his chest. His alarm goes off and he sits up. Rhodey's mother, enters and tell him that breakfast is ready. She says that after he eats he and James can go to Stark International and then to school. She reassures him that everything will be fine. Outside Stark International, the guard does not recognize Tony or Rhodey. Tony wants in to see Obadiah but the guard refuses. Rhodey says that Tony is the guy the guard works for. He calls someone inside and tells Tony that he can go up, but without Rhodey. Tony says it will be fine since it is still his father's company. He leaves the elevator trailed by the guard. There is no one walking around, just a few people at their desks. Tony tries to say hello to Tricia but the guard stops him. She glumly tells him that Mr. Stane will see him. Tony leaves and Tricia looks at him with a look of sadness. Obadiah sits in his office making a deal with the military. The office is cold and grey, lacking the warmth that it had when Howard was there. Tony wants to be involved but Obadiah says that he will take care of the company until Tony is legally old enough to. Tony then demands that he have access to his and his father's research but Obadiah informs him that everything they did is property of Stark International. When Tricia informs Obadiah that his next appointment is here he ends the meeting. He extends his hand saying he will meet Tony again when he turns eighteen. That is why Tony sees that Obadiah is wearing his father's Makluan Ring. Tony leaves Stark International and meets up with Rhodey. Before his friend can ask anything Tony throws his onto the ground that kicks it hard. The two leave for school. First Day As they enter their school Rhodey tries to cheer him up by saying that in two years Tony can fire Obadiah. However, Tony just wants to ditch class and show Rhodey the new lab he's been working on. But Rhodey says that his mother would punish them if they did. Tony doesn't believe he needs to go to school, until he sees a pretty girl walk by and decides to give it a chance. In his math class the teacher puts on the board the calling it the hardest math problem in the world and one that has not been solved. Tony raises his hand and knows the answers is forty-two. In his physics class Tony scans through the . He tells the professor that it is out of date. Rhodey, who is sitting in the row next to him, moves his desk away. In his science class Tony teaches the professor about his theories. The teacher sits on the desk eagerly listening. The bell rings and all the students leave. After class Tony and Rhodey wander the hallway. Tony asks what's next and Rhodey responds that he has English Literature while Tony has nothing. He suggest that Tony take a tour of the roof, where many students often have lunch. He turns around and walks to class saying they'll meet after class. Tony looks sad as the hallway empties of students. Later, Tony stands at the edge of the roof looking over at Stark Tower. As he gazes at the logo his mind flashes back to the day of the explosion. Debris of the Stark jet was everywhere. Smoke still poured out from the engines. An electrical field surrounded Tony as he laid on the ground. One of his arms was in the armor and his clothes were ripped apart. He sat up but quickly fell on his face. He crawled over to the box he was trying to open before. He collapsed on it but managed to open it. He reached inside and put on the helmet which covered his face. He activated the and it detected extensive damage around his and chest area. He told the suit to activated taskforce that is investigating Obadiah Stane following Howard Stark's "accident" as he had the most to gain. Tony realizes something as she introduces herself as . Seeking the Truth At a group of s Rhodey runs after Tony. Tony enters one that Rhodey has never been in before. He says that although his parents ran this compound for Howard Stark, they never let Rhodey in here. Rhodey sees Tony on the floor below and follows. Tony activates a panel and a large metal door rises up and he enters. Rhodey follows and enters the that Tony has been working on. He sees that the room is filled with advanced computers. Above them is a large vault in front of a circular wall with numbered doors. He tells Tony that he shouldn't just believe Pepper as she's a little crazy. But Tony thinks that what she said was true. Tony presses a switch and the forth door rotates behind the vault. The vault opens revealing the Tony has been working on. Rhodey asks if he's going to beat Obadiah up, and Tony sarcastically agrees. He says that the armor has surveillance systems onboard and he can spy on Obadiah. Just then his watch goes off. Rhodey thinks it's his heart. Tony reassures him that it's just his reminder alarm, that he'll need to recharge in an hour. Rhodey doesn't think Tony should go out in the suit and gives a list of reasons. But Tony says that he has to save his dad's company, even if he couldn't save his father. He suits up in the armor inside the vault. The vault lifts into a tube and opens up. Tony flies out of the vault and through the tube. He reaches a large room with lots of pipes and flies out of the roof and into the sky. Rhodey makes his way home where he puts on a so he can talk to Tony from his computer. Tony says that Rhodey has to try it, just before he sideswipes a building. Tony exclaims how wonderful flying is, but Rhodey notes he's about to hit another building. Iron Man sideswipes this one too and flies towards street level. A few cars dodge him and he flies up above the buildings. Tony claims he never actually used the suit before. He then floats outside of Stark Tower has he hacks into the systems he designed. He downloads all of Obadiah's records from just before the jet crash. Rhodey sees them on his computer. Just then, Iron Man sees that Obadiah turned the Earthmover into a weapon using his laser systems. Just then Rhodey finds from Stark International that a is out of control. However, Tony is more interested in the satellite feed revealing that Obadiah is trying to sell the Earthmovers. Rhodey interrupts saying that the train is speeding up and has been diverted so that it is on a collision course with Stark Tower. Tony sees the train and realizes that it will hit the power generators, destroying the building and killing hundreds of people. Armored Hero Tony flies down and then just above the . He thinks he just has to switch the tracks but Rhodey says he'll also have to slow it down. He opens the suits flaps and slows down until he skids to a stop. Tony connects to the city's mainframe and realizes that the switchover is fine. He analyzes the track's schematics and comes up with a plan. Tony fires his at the control then manually pushes the track into place. He ducks just as the train comes screaming by. He's happy until Rhodey tells him that the track is a dead end. Instead of crashing into Stark Tower it will crash in the middle of the city, where a is currently located. Tony flies off next to the train, not noticing that there's nobody in it, and thinks of a way to stop it. Then he speeds off in front of the train and lands in front of it. He braces himself as the train hits him. With all the force he can he tries to stop the train. However, his onboard computer informs him that the levels to his cardio implant are depleted. Rhodey begs him to stop, but Iron Man says he needs to save those lives. However, Tony crashes through the door and lands in the car. He kicks open the back door and uses his repulsor beam to break off the engine car from the rest. The rest of the train eventually slow to a stop. Eventually the engine car nears the end breaking through the barriers. Iron Man tries to pull it to a stop but it goes over the edge. Directly underneath a cab driver gets out of his taxi to see the engine come down on him. Tony flies underneath and fires his boot jets stopping the descent. The people cheer as he holds up the train engine. He lands and puts the engine down safely. Back at the warehouse Iron Man, with his mask off, recharges his heart. Rhodey enters telling him that his heroics were all over the news. That people are calling him Iron Man. Tony says that he will do as his father always wanted, use his technology to help people, save Stark International, and find out what happened to his father. Elsewhere, a kneels down saying that their plan to hit Stark Tower with the train failed, and thus they were unable to recover the ring. A large armored figure calling himself the says that he will have to take the ring himself, to add to the one he already wears. Quotes "Well? Whadda think?" "Colorful. But you know your dad's just going to invent something to top this. Man, you guys are like dueling evil geniuses." "Not this time, Rhodey. This one's different. He's gonna freak out. Come with me to show him!" "Yeah, some of us have to go to school, Tony. Ever heard of it?" "Sounds awful. I'll call you tonight to let you know about it." "Uh yeah. I'm holding my breath starting right...now!" :-'Tony Stark' and James Rhodes, first lines of the series "Well look who finally came out of his lab. Your dad's inside, Tony." :-'Tricia', first line "No, proceed with the Earthmover trial run. I'll be at the test site in an hour and have the ring with me. Good, I'll see you then." :-'Howard Stark', first line "Howard!" "It's okay, Tricia. What can I do for you, Obadiah?" "Why did you reject my proposal for repurposing the Earthmovers? The military will pay billions for them once they've been modified." "Modified? You wanna take an invention that's intended to make people's lives better and turn it into a weapon. Not gonna happen." "This is insane, Howard! Your costing this company and our shareholders..." "A fortune. I know. Stark International is my company." "Please, be reasonable." "It's my company. And my word is final." :-'Obadiah Stane', first lines, and Howard Stark "This legends tells the story that the Chinese had explorers in the new world long before the Europeans did. The archeological site we found, the artifacts we're recovering. it's a mystery that's got everything to do with the Makluan Rings!" "Wow, is that boring." "The Chinese think they were a form of magic. But from what we've been learning I think they were a form of technology. Imagine it, Tony. Technology far more advanced than what we have now but hundreds, if not thousands of years before the Industrial Revolution." "For someone who is supposed to be shaping the future your hobbies are really old school." :-'Howard Stark' and Tony Stark "Hard-light laser. Targetting system you invented. Excellent for scalping. Combined with real-time seismographic readings. The Earthmover will not only revolutionize archeology but just imagine the benefit for disaster relief. Collapsed buildings. Your invention will save lives, Tony." "''It also made your last invention look like a fifth grade science project." "Yeah, and that's why I'm grounding you for a month!" "What!?" "You're so easy, it's not even funny." :-'''Howard Stark and Tony Stark "I think I'm gonna have to let Obadiah go. He's become obsessed with weapons. "A million dollars, so this is about the Earthmovers again?" "You're on!" :-'Howard Stark' and Tony Stark "Howard, I want to talk to you about the Earthmover deal." [As Tony's walking away]"Hooray! I'm rich." "I'm giving you one last chance to approve this, Howard." "Well then I'm going to have to refuse one more time, Obadiah." :-'Obadiah Stane' and Howard Stark, last line "DAAAAD!" :-'Tony Stark' just before the explosion "Breakfast is ready, Tony." "Thanks, Mrs. Rhodes. I'll be right there." "James is downstairs already. Once you're finished eating you two can go over to Stark International. Then head to school. It'll be okay, Tony. You'll see." :-'Roberta Rhodes' and Tony Stark "Are you sure you're up for this?" "Hey, it's still my dad's company, right?" :-'James Rhodes' and Tony Stark "What's going on, Obadiah? What are you doing with..." "Tony, Tony, Tony. Don't worry. Stark International is in good hands. Nothing you need to be concerned with. I'm so sorry we didn't have more chance to talk after your father's funeral. It is all so hard. But you have my word I'll personally take care of everything until you're legally ready to step back in." "I want to be involved. My father and he wanted..." "This is what you're father wanted. He wanted you living with the Rhodes. Going to school. Being a normal kid." "I want all of my research and my father's notes." "Everything you and your father worked on is company property. Stark International is a business, after all, not your personal playground." :-'Tony Stark' and Obadiah Stane "Look at it this way, in two years you get to fire him. It'll be worth the wait." :-'James Rhodes' "Do I have to do this...this school thing? Can't we just ditch or something? I can show you the lab I've been fixing up." "No chance! If my mom found out we ditched your first day of school she'd crush us. She is a lawyer, remember?" "Why would my dad want me to go to school? It doesn't make sense. I mean I know everything I need to..." [Girl brushes him] "Oops." "You know, maybe I should give this a try." :-'Tony Stark', James Rhodes, and Girl "What you're looking at here is widely thought to be the hardest math equation in the world, and has yet to be solved. Now what we are doing today is far less difficult." "Sir. Forty-two." :-'Math Teacher' and Tony Stark "A-activation code: Stark-02." "Stark Exosuit activated. Scanning. Alert! Medical systems detect extensive damage to user's heart and chest. Treatment in progress." "Navigation systems: engage autopilot. Take me to Rhodey." :-'Tony Stark' and Onboard Computer "Your dad used to work there. You're Tony Stark. I mean, Anthony Edward Stark. You worked there too cause you never went to school before. Privately tutored after your mom...uh...he he. Never mind. You live with James Rhodes' family, they're your legal guardians now. You have like a billion'' patents on file. And you were missing for a week after the plane crash. How do you survive a plane crash anyways?" "''I...just lucky I guess. How do you know all this stuff?" "My dad's on the FBI taskforce that's investigating Obadiah Stane after your fathers, you know, "accident." He had the most to gain from your dad's death. Hi, my name's Pepper Potts by the way." :-'Pepper Potts', first lines, and Tony Stark "So whatta going to do with this? Beat Stane up?" "Yes. That's exactly what I'm going to do. Beat the truth out of him." "Really?" "No, not really. The armor has surveillance systems on board. I can use them to spy on Stane and find out anything. Sucker." :-'James Rhodes' and Tony Stark "Tony! I'm sorry. Are you okay?" "It's just a reminder alarm. I have to recharge in an hour or so." "This is a bad idea for about a billion reasons. You're still hurt. If you don't recharge the implant in your heart it's all over." "I'm fine, Mom." "Fine, except for the implant in your heart. You exert yourself in the armor or the armor looses power or-or you get hit by lightning. I don't know what. But your heart will give out." "I've got to do this, Rhodey. For my dad. I couldn't save him but I can stop Stane. I can save everything my dad built." :-'James Rhodes' and Tony Stark "Rhodey, you have got to try this." :-'Iron Man', first line "I never really had a chance to use the suit before." "Uh huh. You're not exactly filling me with confidence here." :-'Iron Man' and James Rhodes "Wait, what!? That unbelievable...He didn't! Stane turned my dad's Earthmover into a weapon! And my laser system!" :-'Iron Man' "I can do this. I just have to switch the track, right?" "We still have to slow it down. Let me see if I can find a map or something." :-'Iron Man' and James Rhodes "Dude, what did you do?" "I switched the train to a different track." "That line only goes to Stark Tower. The track you switched it to...it's not finished. Instead of crashing into Stark Tower, it's going to crash into the middle of the city." "''Oops." :-'''James Rhodes and Iron Man "Medical alert in progress. Cardio implant levels are depleted. Switching to reserves." "Tony! You have to be recharged. You have to stop!" "I can't. Too many lives. Won't stop." :-'Onboard Computer', James Rhodes, and Iron Man "Piece of cake." "It's already all over the news. About a thousand people have footage of you on their cell phones. They're calling you Iron Man. I told you, you're a hero." "My dad always wanted to use technology to help people. To save lives. And that's what I'm going to do. That's what Iron Man'll do. I'm gonna save Stark International from itself. And maybe along the way I'll find out what happened to my dad." :-'Tony Stark' and James Rhodes, last lines "Master. The plan failed. The train was stopped before it hit Stark Tower. We could not retrieve the ring." "That was your last failure in life. Nothing will stand between the Mandarin and his destiny! I will retrieve the ring myself." :-'Tong Soldier' and Mandarin, first lines and last of the episode Trivia *The look of Tricia is much like 's disguise in . *This is Obadiah Stane's first animated appearance, and the second appearance outside the comics following the first Iron Man film. *First animated appearance of Roberta Rhodes. *James Rhodes says that Tony Stark will be in charge of his father's company in two years, meaning that he is now sixteen. Given the comment it probably meant Howard Stark died when he was fifteen and a half. *Tony Stark's alarm goes off at 10:30 AM meaning he has to recharge at 11:30. *The answer to the to the hardest math problem is 42, a reference to the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything from ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. *The train Tony stops was a number "07" Goofs *It is unlikely the Earthmover could be practically used in either archeology or disaster relief. The size and weight of the machine would likely crumble buildings, tunnels, etc. destroying artifacts and possibly crush victims. *When Tony Stark sees Tricia after Obadiah takes over the company, her hands on the are not consistent between shots. *In a later episode, Tony Stark comments that he memorized his textbooks. Yet here he doesn't even know his own schedule. *Just before the explosion Tony Stark is wearing just his clothes. But in the flashback to after the explosion he is wearing the Iron Man gauntlet while the rest of the suit is still locked in the locker. *When Iron Man is hacking into Obadiah Stane's computers, the Stark International logo seen on James Rhodes computer is backwards. *There is little to no reason for Tony to see, what would presumably be, a holographic representation of his own body and clothes. This would take away from his ability to see the external armor. *The credits incorrectly state that Gene Khan is the Mandarin. In this episode he was not, though it is probably the generic credits for use throughout the season. Continuity * makes a cameo appearance, but does not speak and would not be named until *In it would be revealed that the Mandarin seen here was actually . *Pepper Potts would eventually figure out that Tony Stark is Iron Man in . *In Tony Stark would be banned from Stark Tower completely. *In James Rhodes gets his own suit becoming War Machine. *In it is revealed that blew up the jet in order to get the ring back and that Howard Stark is really alive. *Revealed in that was the one who healed Tony after the crash. *In , Obadiah Stane learns that Tony Stark is Iron Man. *In , Tony Stark starts when takes over Stark International. * takes place on Tony Stark's eighteenth birthday. *In , the series finale, Howard and Tony are reunited, the identity of Iron Man and his allies are revealed to the world, and Mandarin is reformed into a hero. Background The series was originally planned for a release in 2007, but pushed back to coincide with the release of the first ''Iron Man'' film. In this series Obadiah Stane is an executive of Stark International taking over after the death of Howard Stark, just like the first Iron Man movie. In the comics he was a rival businessman who attempted to take over Stark International, though he did partner up with Howard. The inside view of Iron Man's armor and heads-up-display is much like the Iron Man film, though the series shows more than his face than the film did. Reaction Stu of Marvel Animation Age was excited at the idea of a new armored Avenger series. He acknowledged that the use of computer animation received lots of criticism but felt that since Iron Man's armor didn't show emotion it made sense while the 3D could allow for designs that 2D could not. He noted that, outside of Wolverine, Tony Stark is the least "teenageable" Marvel character while also taking away the charm of the character as show by Robert Downey Jr.. He felt that the interesting parts of the origin were overlooked by deaging the character as well has having him already having an armor built. He argued that outsmarting and annoying his fellow students made him inaccessible to the show's target audience. He stated that Pepper was annoying, Obadiah Stane a boring villain, Happy Hogan was too much like Flash Thompson, and even Rhodey lacking much to him. He argued that Tony was arrogant without the charm of the film. He didn't mind the animation, reminding him of , but didn't feel the flying was as astonishing as Spider-Man's webslinging nor did the armor look as interesting as did in . He claimed that it was just designed to grab the younger demographic, much like ''The Batman'' and ''Legion of Super Heroes'', offering little for older Iron Man fans. He cited the show as a massive disappointment. "Only another four episodes to go... there’s definite room for improvement. Hopefully it will become at least watchable as time goes on. If not, we can only pray we can an interesting version of the character in the upcoming ." http://marvel.toonzone.net/ironmananimated/reviews/0102ironforged/ Dan Phillips of IGN.com gave the episode a 5.0 rating (out of 10). He said "if only this series had a tenth of the personality, wit and energy of the movie, it might have stood a chance of ingraining a property in a younger audience." He claimed that fans of the character would be scratching their heads with the creative decisions made by the producers. He said that recasting Tony Stark as an innocent, well-mannered teenage savant as opposed to a womanizing, hard-drinking, sharp-tongued scientist/businessman eliminated ninety percent of what made the character interesting. While many heroes lend themselves to younger interpretations, Iron Man is not one of them and this version comes off as more of a Peter Parker rip-off. He said the episode eliminated all the rich pathos that made the character interesting. Having him build the suit before the accident because he thought it was cool, and only using it to initially spy on Stane removed the actual decision to become a hero. He complained that the CGI seemed "half-formed and unfinished" instead looking like a PlayStation game from 1996. He said the characters were lifeless and devoid of emotion, like a character from ''The Sims''. He also felt that the characters and the backgrounds didn't blend, as though the viewers were actually looking at early footage of ''Iron Man 2'' rather than a finished episode. "The animation is a huge problem, and will likely cause some viewers to turn the channel after only a few minutes. And those Iron Man fans that stick around longer wont find much in terms of story to convince them this series is worth their time and attention." http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/04/21/iron-man-armored-aventures-iron-forged-in-fire-part-1-review Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a more positive review with a B+ grade, saying, "What could've been a clunky retrograde reboot works surprisingly well, thanks to some smart writing and stellar CG butt-kickery." It has an 8.4 Great rating on TV.com and 6.8 on the Internet Movie Database. External Links *TV.com *Internet Movie Database Category:Season Premieres Category:Series Pilots Category:Iron Man: Armored Adventures Episodes